Tire building



Much 17, 192s. 1,529,841

M. A. MARQUETTE TIRE BUILDING Filed play 2o,- 1919 Y INVENT BYzadQ/,v/M` ATTORNEYS CII Patented Mar. l?, 1925'. i

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PATE T ll/IELVON A. MARQUETTE, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TG THE FISK RUBBER COMPANY, OF CHICOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACUSETTS.

TIRE BUILDING.'

by which this method may be carried out..

' It has for its object to eliminate much of the labor now necessary 1n making these tires by hand, to increase the accuracy of position and tension with which successive layers of fabric may be superposed in building up 'the tire carcass, and to improve the smoothness with which the plies may be laid upon the core. It also has other objectsy which will appear from the description and claims.

According to the present practice in the manufacture of fabric tires, particularly those lrnovvn as thread fabric tires, a. plurality of plies of the fabric, previously cut on the bias, are united to form an endless band of a circumference slightly less than hat of the core upon which the tire is to be built. rhis band is stretched manually by the tire builder over the crest of the core and is stitched down upon the sides of the core ay a small roller as the core is rotated. Additional plies are placed upon the carcass so made, in a similar manner. In placing additional plies upon the partially formed carcass it is necessary to separate them vfrom the previously applied layers by means of a strip of'cloth which is removed after the additional plies have been located. As it is generally preferable to give to the fabric a stretch of approximately 15%, it will readily be seen that the stretching of this fabric over the core is a matter requiring considerable effort, and it is also obvious that to et the plies smoothly in place requires muc skill. A stretch of morel than this amount cannot be readily given to the fabric in this method of assembly. f

According .tog my improved method, I build up one or more plies of fabric in :in endless hand as before, the size of each band being spihciently less than that which it is to assume finally in the carcass so that it will be given the desired amount of Stretch.

This stretch is necessary in order that the Wrinkles in the fabric may be removed. the threads or cords of the fabric may be evenly tensioned, and Aexcessive Wrinkling at the sides of the tires may be avoided. I take the band of fabric so produced and place it about a core which is preferably gnade with a contractible or deilatable member' around its circumference. lVhen de-y flated, this core is slightly less in circum-` ference than that of the band so that the band may be readily located Without any excessive labor and so that the fabric Will lie smoothly in place Without any distortion due to its being' forced over the crest of the core. The core is then inflated to a predetermined size which is preferably the interna] size of the built-up carcass, and the fabric layers stitched down in place upon the sides of the core in the usual manner. This -method finds particular utility in cases Where the carcass of a tire casing is to be built up out of a succession of layers of one or more plies of rubberized fabric or cord material. In this case the core is contracted to a size permitting the easy application of a band of-v carcass forming material around it in encircling relation, the band at this time being sufficiently smaller than the fsize it is to' assume in the built-u carcass to. provide for the'stretch desired in the band upon expansion. The core' With the band mounted upon it is then expanded to stretch the band to the size desired in the built-up tire carcass,v and the band conformed to the sides of the core in any suitable manner. The core may then be -deliated to permit the positioning around it of a second band of carcass building material, the elasticity of the band first applied allowing it to contract with the core. The second band is then expanded and is conformed to the sides of the core in any suitable manner. Succeeding bands may be similarly applied until the desired number are in place. It will be noted that by the method of'my invention the'bands are stretched evenly throughout their circumference, and are stretched prior to their incorporation into the carcass to the size,` desired in the built-up carcass and not beyond it, thereby avoiding the uneven conditions of position and `tension resulting inthe practice offprior methods Where excessive local stretching occurred and the permament!"v distortan ci ymisplaccinent of the f {strain-resisting elements that occurred when the'bands 'were stretchedbefore their appli-A nyiiig Qdi' Wings, in

Fig. 1 shows a se ion of aide table core d ywith a band of fabric located thereon, the

inflated here.

core being shown in its deflated condition; Fig. 2 1s a similar4 View showingthe core Fig. 3 is a partialsection of the core showing the fabric stitched in place; and Fig. l is an end elevation of the core. The core is composed oi au annular member lf mounted upon a shaft 11 or other suitable support in any one oi the usual Ways, as by spokes '12 radiating from a hub 13 on the shaft. The annularportion has a concave circumference 144 in whichy is securedan air tight tube 15 somewhat similar to the Water bags now used in the Vulcan'- ization of tire casings. Leading vto the tube 15 is a Valve 16 preferably'extending in- Wardly through the annular portion 10.

In the use of this core, an endless band of fabric 17 is formed and is slipped over .the deflated core as shown in Fig. 1. The core Ais then inflated through the Valve 16 until it reaches the-desired size, which, as previously stated, is preferably the' internal size of the built-up carcass. As a conrenient Way of determiningv when this' size has been E reached, a hoop 18, preferably of metal and having); the desired circumference, may be placed about the core and the' tube 15 expanded until it just malzesnontact with the hoop. The Walls of the tuberll are prefer-- ably made suiiiciently rigid by the inclusion of a plurality oit plies of fabric so that they will furnish sulicient resistance to enable the,

fabric band 17 beingn stitched or spun down upon thc sides of the tube as yshown at 19 in Figure 3. li' additional plies ot' fabric are desired, the: tube 15 may be dei-lated and the additional plies previously formed as air endless band slipped over the core. The tube is then inflated to the proper size and the additional plies stitched down upon thesidos of the core. The beads may be. inserted between the plies as theyare laid in any usual or desired manner and the customar;y covering material, such as the tread and sidewalls, added. The vrnanncr of performing these steps Will be apparent to any person skilled in the customary manufacturqroi tire casings,fand need not he described in detail l1. The method of building the carcass of a tire casing including iforniinn,` one or more plies of rubberized. fabric as an endless band oi less size than that which it is to assume in the built-.up carcass, placing said band Maasai ,ntion. withgparticular reiercarcass bvlse aratel'l stretchin each band b Labout an expansible core While the latter, is contracted, expanding the core to proper i size, and stitching `the fabric down upon the 'sides of the core.

l i?. The method of buildingf the earcass'oii"n aAtire casing including forming one or more plies of rubberized 'fabric as an endless band ot less size than that which it is to assume in the built-up carcass, placing said band about an expansible core While the latter is .centracteliexpanding the core to the size of the interior.. of the builtfup carcass, stitchingl the fabric down upon the sides of the core, forming' one or more additional plies similarly as an endless band, partially 89 -contracting the core, slipping the additional portion of each band as` it is being' assem- 90 bled into the carcass, to but not ,beyond its y position in the built-upcarcass 4. The method of laminating carcass plies on an expansible and contractible core in tire building, "which consists in forming rubberized fabric or cord carcass-building material in several separate bands of less diameter than the core when expanded, "if

placing' a band on the core when contracted, expanding the core to stretch the band, contracting the core vWith the band on it, placing another band over the first band, expandingT the corel to stretch the second band, and ,repeating the operations until the desiredniitnber of bands are laminated on the core inpanded 'conditionfl 5. ln a method of tire building, the laminating of a plurality of endless bands of tire building material'to forni aV torio beginning at its'peripheral center line and proceeding progressively at each side of said line over the central portion of the band as it Vis being' assembled into the carcass to but not beyond its'position in the builtfup "115 carcass.

6. In a method of tire building, 'the` laminating of va plurality of endless bands of ti'. e building material separately-upon an inflatable core which is stretchable both laterally and longitudinally, and the stretch ing ofeach band as it is placed in position in the carcass by the ination of the core.

7. A method of making-#tires which includes the followiiig steps: first, forming an' endless' fabric baiid of a diameter Substantially equal to the median diameterofthe tire t9 be made; second, placing said bnd on an expansible annulus; and third, expan ding said annulus to shape the fabric band.' 15

:weasel 8. A method of making tires which includes the ilollowiner steps; first, forming an endless fabric band ofa diameter substantially ,equal lo the median diameter ot' the tire to be made; second, placing said band on fluid expansible annulus; third, inflating said nnnulus tostretcli the central portion of tlie fabric band; and fourth, shaping tlie edges ol' the fabric band to the sides of the annulus.

9. A method of building a tire carcass which consists in assembling a flexible former and an endless bend of carcass material-in circi'lrnferentially centered relation, shaping thel band to the former by uni formly acting forces simultaneously and evenly applied over the central circumferential area of the band and the former with :i mutually yieldingaction clue to the flexibility of the band and the former, both the edge portions of the band being kept Jfree and unrestrained during the rearrangement of its central area7 and then shaping the edge portions of the band to carcass form.

lO. lA method of 'building a tire carcass which consists in assembling a tire former and an endless band of carcass material in circumferentially centered relation, shaping the band to the former by uniformly acting forces simultaneously and evenly ap lied over the central circumferential area. o the band and the former, both the edge portions of the band being kept free and unrestrained during the iearrangement of its central area., and then shaping the edge portions of the band to carcass form.

MLVON e. MARQUETTE. 

